


Right Where You Left Me

by BinarySunsetLover15



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, Romance, SUPER CHEESY, Songfic, lots of flirting, romcom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29058399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BinarySunsetLover15/pseuds/BinarySunsetLover15
Summary: Rey finds herself alone on her 24th birthday and in a downright depressing situation at the same bar as her Ex. Enter a handsome bartender named Ben, who might be able to help Rey out. With both her predicaments.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 18
Kudos: 95





	Right Where You Left Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thanks for clicking on this story. This is a songfic half inspired by "Right Where You Left Me" by Taylor Swift. I have had this idea for a while and the song inspired me to finish it! Although the song is kind of depressing, this fic isn't! Some sad feelings by the characters but overall extremely fluffy with Ben and Rey. Notes of Legally Blonde and other Rom Coms can definitely be seen throughout! I'm not the best writer, just someone putting their ideas out there, so bear with me!
> 
> Characters: Lovable  
> Dialogue: Cheesy  
> Plot: Mediocre  
> All the components of a classic RomCom!!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

_“Look, I just don’t want you to get your hopes up”_

Rey held her phone between her cheek and shoulder as she rushed around her small room trying to find her left shoe while also trying to apply a thick coat of mascara. Her day in the office had ran long and Daine was due to pick her up any minute.

“No , you don’t understand Rose! He’s taking me to Canto Bight. He’s proposing I just know it!” Rey squealed excitedly, scrumming around for the heel she finally spied under her bed.

“Besides when I was at his apartment the other day, I saw a receipt for that Jewelry store up on 5th. He totally got his grandmother’s ring resized.” Slipping on the shoe, Rey gave herself a once over in her bedroom mirror while Rose huffed into the other side of the phone.

“Look you don’t date someone for five years and not get engaged,” Rey assured her friend. “And he has been so happy lately! Why would he even go to a jewelry store if he wasn’t looking to propose?”

_“Maybe he has a secret mistress”_ Rose deadpanned into her end of the phone call.

Rey laughed which was quickly met with a laugh from Rose. “Don’t even joke about that. Gosh, can you imagine?” Reaching down, She grabbed her favorite perfume, the one Daine had bought her and spritzed it on.

_“Rey, I just…”_ Rose started again before pausing.

“Oh hush, just say you’re happy for me” Rey joked, laughing at her own quip.

Rose exhaled heavily before resuming her thought. _“You are only twenty-three, Rey, we have our whole lives to get married and all of that stuff.”_

Rey picked at some of the crumbles of mascara stuck on her eyelashes as she listened to her best friend. “But I want that now. Look, you know I’ve never had a proper family, and Daine can be that family.” Her voice dropped as her past came back into mind. “I can finally be whole…. Be normal.”

Rose exhaled on the other end of the phone. _“Rey…”_

A car horn from outside blared through Rey’s studio apartment window. Rushing toward the window, she waved down to Daine who had pulled up in his red Tie Interceptor, the car was his literal _Baby._

“Rose, I’ve got to go, Daine is here, but I’ll send you a picture of the ring!” Rey spoke before hanging up. She quickly rushed around, grabbing her purse, before giving herself one more glance in the mirror.

_Perfect._ There was no trace of the hectic workday at the foster center or a troubled past, right now Rey looked like a million bucks. And maybe she was even worth a diamond ring.

The drive to Canto Bight was quick, only a 5-mile trek on 35E into downtown. Daine held her hand and using the other to drive. Rey noticed that his hands were sweaty, his fingers kept tapping on the steering wheel. _He was totally nervous._ She relaxed back further into her seat, trying to hide the small smile on her face. Every few seconds Rey flashed her eyes over to where Daine was sitting, trying to see if his indiscernible expression would crack.

“So how was work?” He asked flatly but politely.

“Oh, you know, work is work.” Rey spoke, “We had a few new kids come in—”

“Why don’t you just quick that job and find something that pays a little higher?” Daine quickly interrupted her.

“Well,” Rey rebuffed. “I find the work I’m doing there rewarding, it reminds me of the people who helped me—”

“I’m just saying, find something that’s actually worth your while. What’s the point if you don’t make decent money. ” He interrupted her again.

Rey thought about what he had said. Perhaps she should look for something else. Besides, once she moved further into the city with him, the commute would be a pain. But Rey didn’t want to, she loved being at the center, the exact place that gave her a better life than the streets 15 years ago. “Maybe”

“Look, Babe, you know I’m right. Who’s the one with a car and the two-bedroom apartment overlooking the skyline on Lake Street.”

“Your apartment is nice.” Rey said back, staring straight ahead at the passing cars whizzing around them. The sun had started to set, bouncing off the front hood into her eyes. Pulling her hand away from his, she blocked the blinding glare.

—

Once they got to Canto Bight, the sun had fully set, and the cold was starting to set in. November was when the winter really started to sit in. Often snow would come soon. Daine always complained, but Rey found it quite beautiful.

The hostess led them to a two-chaired table, the lighting was low, and candles adorned each table they passed. _Very elegant. Very Romantic._ Rey thought with a smile. 

At their table, She slipped off her wool coat (the fancy one she borrowed from her colleague Aayla). Daine pulled her chair out, before taking off his own expensive-looking jacket and sitting down across from her. 

Rey took a moment to gaze at him as he looked over the menu. Perfect blond hair, perfect blue eyes, perfect job, perfect life. She smiled, thinking of how nervous he was in the car. Daine looked up and met her eyes, giving her a weak, fleeting smile before looking around the restaurant. He was distracting himself, Rey told herself.

When the waiter came back, Daine ordered a beer, Rey ordered water. She knew he didn’t like when she drank. So, she didn’t.

As she looked over the menu, she could feel him shifting in his seat across the table from her. He twiddled his fingers in front of him, before taking a sip of his beer. _Still pleasantly nervous_. Rey smiled into the entrée section of the menu.

“Rey?”

_It_ was _happening._

She delicately placed her menu down, looking across the table to smile at Daine. He reached for her hand, taking it in his grip. His other hand reached down under the table, perhaps for something in his pocket.

“I’ve been thinking about the future lately.” He spoke softly.

Rey nodded gently in response., the smile still wide on her face. “I have to Daine. Very much.”

He hummed in response shaking his head ever so slightly. “We have been so good together. These past four years have been amazing.”

Her heart was beating out of her chest, her toes were tapping gently against the carpet below, ready to hurl herself across the table into his embrace. The words ‘I Do’ were on the tip of her tongue, ready to be shouted to the heavens.

“Rey,” he paused.

_This was it._

Rey held her breath. Daine was looking at her the way she always wanted to be looked at.

“I think we should break up”

—

**One year later**

—

_“So, what are you planning on doing tonight?”_

“Oh, you know me, Rose, work will probably go late as it always does” Rey had her phone pinched between her shoulder and cheek while she placed her foot upon the top of her dresser, tying the thin laces.

_“Rey, you practically run the place now, can’t you decide when the work is done?”_ Rose mused into the other end of the phone.

Rey gave her best friend a sarcastic laugh as she placed her foot back on the ground by the other. “A business is only as good as the workers are. And besides, I don’t have anything to do tonight anyway.” Rey brushed off her workaholic choices. It kept her mind busy.

_“I’m sorry we aren’t making it into town until tomorrow.”_ Her friend spoke softly into the phone.

“It’s a weeknight anyway, it will be much more fun to have the whole weekend.” Rey brushed off her friend's apologies. “You’ll all be here soon enough.” She assured Rose.

There was some abrupt shuffling that could be heard through Rose’s end of the phone and what sounded like her talking to Hux about maybe a coffee mug. Or did she say rug? Rey wasn’t sure. After a moment her friend returned. “Sorry about that, Armie is very intent on getting our place all decorated. Apparently, it couldn’t wait until after this weekend.” Rose laughed sarcastically.  
  


Rey responded with a small huff of air that passed as a response of amusement.

Her friends were all taking the train into town for the weekend. Rey had moved back to Hosnia to work for the Center, leaving all of her friends back in Takodana where they had all gone to school together.

At first, it had just been Rose, Rey’s freshman year assigned roommate, who later became her best friend. Then, they had met Poe and Hux who had lived across the hall in their Co-ed dorm. Poe was the charismatic, make friends with everyone, type of guy, while Hux was the guy who took a gap year and turned it into three. And somehow they all became friends.

Rose and Hux became immediately smitten with each other. Poe was cute, but not really Rey’s type. He was, she later found out, more Finn’s type, Rey’s other instant best friend who she met in a first-year communications class. And then there had been … Daine. Rey exhaled shakily as she remembered how they had met. Dirty frat house basement, flirting over shots at a cracked dartboard.

_“You alright? Rey?”_ Rose finally broke through her train of thought.

Shaking her head, Rey brushed the thought from her mind, reaching down to grab her chapstick, swiping it across her lips. “Hmm?”

_“Okay, I know what you are doing right now and as your best friend, I’m going to tell you again how much better your life is without him.”_

Rey wrapped an arm around herself, hugging tightly as she held back tears. “Yes, I know…” She whispered back shakily. Rey nodded her head but was unsure of the action; Always trying to convince herself.  
  


Tears prickled at her eyes and Rey pressed a hand to her forehead trying to stop them from falling. The air seemed so much hotter now, like the candlelight from the table at Canto Bight was still in front of her. Her eyes scanned around the room falling on the blush-colored shoes she had whipped off that night, still where she had left them.

_“Rey,”_ Rose spoke tentatively. _“I know it’s still hard, but at some point, you have to move on. You can’t keep letting him control your life.”_

Rey exhaled harshly, a few tears slid down her cheeks, She could practically feel her mascara running with them. Her heart clenched as it ached, the pain had never stopped. She could still feel everyone’s eyes on her; the cold subway seat as she rode home alone; the streaks of tears that didn’t leave her face for weeks.

“I know Rose,” Rey spoke shakily into the phone. She looked at herself in the mirror, assessing the damage. Her appearance wasn’t terrible, only a few touch-ups needed, to be outwardly presentable. But Inside…. inside was still shred apart. “I just wish it wasn’t so damn hard,”

Her friend was silent on the other end of the line. Rey breathed heavily in and out, gripping the wood of the dresser in front of her.

_“Okay here is what is going to happen,”_ Rose told Rey, perking her voice up into that ever so present state of optimism. _“You are going to go to work. You are going to enjoy yourself because it is what you love to do.”_ Rey gave Rose a shaky breath, nodding slightly in agreement. _“And despite it being what you love, you are going to leave at a reasonable hour tonight.”_

Rey now gave her a full laugh, shaking her head at her friend’s antics. “Rose, you are rambling.”

_“Hush,”_ Rose shushed her before continuing. “ _I am going to Venmo you 30 dollars to buy the most expensive drink at whatever bar you want to go to. And you are going to sit there and drink it while you look around and realize how incredible and successful of a life you have made for yourself and by yourself.”_

Rey closed her eyes, listening to her friend’s words of affirmation, reveling in the warm feeling that replaced the cold one in her heart as she remembered how lucky she was to end up with friends like this and a job she did absolutely adore.

“Alright,” Rey humored her friend. What was one drink?

_“And tomorrow Poe, Finn, Armie and I are going to take you out and we are going to get absolutely smash—”_

“Alright Rose,” Rey cut her friend off, laughing slightly. She knew that if Rose wasn’t stopped, she would continue trying to convince her and that would definitely make Rey late. “Look I have to go but thank you, I really do appreciate it.” She told her friend with a grin.

_“Oh, thank god.”_ Rose exhaled in relief. _“And hey maybe you could invite that friend of yours from work?”_

Rey knew what Rose was getting at. Tiaan was nice enough and decent to look at, but Rey wasn’t sure she was ready for all that again. She didn’t know if she even wanted any of that again. Her heart clenched slightly again, but Rey brushed the feeling away.

“I think I will enjoy my night alone, Rose. I think that your company this weekend will be enough social interaction for a while” Rey teased her friend.

_“Okay, try to make that sound less depressing”_ Rose spoke knowingly in a sing-song voice.

“Slim chance of that,” Rey giggled, “But actually, Thank you for the drink and I cannot wait to pick you guys up tomorrow.”

_“We are so excited to see our little Rey-Rey”_ Rose mused.

Rey laughed at the old nickname. “I love you, tell the others I cannot wait to see them.”

_“We love you too, see you tomorrow”_

Rey let Rose’s response drift through her speaker before clicking off the line. Shaking her head slightly, she touched up her mascara, blinking a few times to try to make her eyes appear less red. With a small exhale and smile, Rey reached down to grab her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. As she turned toward the door, and despite fighting her own wishes, Rey’s eyes still caught sight of the blush-toned heels that laid on the floor in her closet.

—

It was nearly dark when Rey finally left the office. It was still before the midpoint of winter, so the sun started setting around five. Most people hated winter for this reason, but Rey still loved it, the way the snow looked as it fell during the night. How fresh the air was. Everything always seemed clean and as new as the first snowfall.

  
Sadly, there was no snow on the ground yet. It was late this year meaning that all of the Hosnia’s residents would stare at the brown dead grass, no more colorful leaves on trees to hide the death of the closing season.

Her phone buzzed in her wool jacket’s pocket. Pulling it out, Rey rolled her eyes at the text message from Rose.

_A nice drink at a nice bar. And keep your eyes open :P_

Rose’s nagging about Rey’s absent love life had become incessant the past few weeks. But Rey knew she wasn’t ready. Rose found her true love without getting her heart shattered, it wasn’t that Rey didn’t _want to._ It just didn’t feel right. She shuddered.

Rey paused when she got to her car, putting away her phone and unlocking the door. She hopped in quickly, shutting the cold air out. Even with no snow, the wind was still brutal.

She turned the key in the ignition, the engine clicking once before turning over and rumbling to life. Rey huffed, sitting back against the leather seat. She tapped her head on the headrest twice, closing her eyes and taking a breath.

_Even after a year. You still can’t move on._

Maybe Daine had ruined her. Taken all the love she was able to give. Perhaps she should just go home and curl up on her couch with some Chinese and the soothing sound of trashy reality tv. At least she could feel some sort of good about herself compared to the absolute hot messes on _Love Galaxy._

Her phone buzzed again. The blue Venmo icon flashed in front of her background.

_Rose Tico has sent you 30.00$ for: You better not be on your couch._

Rey exhaled, silently laughing at how well her best friend actually knew her. _Fine_. She told herself. She would go out. For one drink. This year can’t be any worse than what happened in the last.

And then she got an idea. Perhaps it was a terrible idea and Rey knew that. Silently, she punched the street name into her GPS. Shifting into gear, Rey drove out of the parking lot and toward the onramp toward a certain bar downtown.

—

The shiny gold and amber lights that had elegantly dressed the outside of the restaurant had now been replaced by simple white ones. It looked better, Rey thought to herself. Unannounced to her, Canto Bight had gone out of business nearly 8 months ago. Something about illegal gambling in the back rooms.

The place had been unceremoniously shut down before new owners bought and revamped it.

_The Millennium Falcon._ Interesting name. The logo was sort of disc-shaped; a spot cut out where the name was.

“Huh” Rey spoke out loud as she stared up at the blinking sign. It stared right back at her. The lights brought her back to a year before when she had barely had time to notice the lights as Daine led her through the retro set of revolving doors. Those were now gone, instead replaced by a modern push and pull door.

Rey shrugged before saying ‘fuck it’ and making her way inside.

The interior of the restaurant was still recognizable underneath all the new paint and different table settings. She felt a chill go through her as she remembered the anticipation she had felt walking in here a year ago. Now all she felt was a lingering empty space inside of her. Everything seemed frozen in time where she left it.

Save for a large, updated bar on the left side of the main dining room. _Yup that far seat was definitely calling her name._

The dining area was mostly full, besides a few empty tables awaiting their diners.

She brushed past the hostess who asked if she had a reservation. If she was waiting for someone. Rey gave her a pained smile, shaking her head as she gestured toward her intentions at the bar. The woman in turn gave her a polite nod, struggling to keep the embarrassment of her mistake off her face.

Rey brushed off the interaction, making a beeline for the empty stool at the end of the bar. The seat itself sat at the large U-shaped marble slab that separated the workers from the intoxicated patrons. The shiny stone was colored a monotone grey, reminding Rey of some ship in a space-age movie. The hanging lights overhead were dimmed to set a certain mood Rey knew didn’t apply to her.

She took off her coat while looking around at the dining room as she waited for the bartender to notice her. Her eyes focused in on an empty two-person table. Each empty chair sat across from the other. It was probably where some couple who has convinced themselves that they were in love with each other would sit tonight. The guy would make some stupid joke and the girl would laugh because that’s what she is supposed to do. And then they would look down and eat their food in silence as they imagined how much better their life would be without each other.

Rey sighed as she looked away. At least they had someone they could at least pretend to be in love with. She felt the twang in her heart that had lingered since she had sat at that stupid table and was that stupid girl.

She turned around and huffed at herself, leaning her bare arms on the cool grey stone. The bartender still hadn’t come for her order.

That’s when she heard it. A familiar laugh. One she did anything to hear for so long. It boomed over the room, overcoming any conversations that had been happening, announcing its presence for all the world to see.

_Fuck._ She turned her head ever so slightly to get the smallest glimpse in the direction of the sound.

It was Daine. He was walking toward her with a bright smile on his face. He looked the same as he did when she last saw him. Following the hostess who led him to a table in the middle of the room.

Rey sunk back into her seat, turning around so that he wouldn’t see her if he looked over to the bar. Her hair was longer now. Perhaps he wouldn’t recognize her.

“Shit, shit, shit” She whispered to herself. Her hands became sweaty as she nervously rubbed them against her thighs.

Peeking once more, she saw that he had sat down at the table. Crossing his legs, Daine swiped through something on his phone, completely unaware that they were sharing the same space. He had the same blue eyes that had captivated hers for the longest time, the same smirk on his face that had taunted her as she stared at the ceiling during her many sleepless nights.

Her heart clenched. Suddenly she sat frozen behind glass and sitting in that empty chair looking over at him. Her toes curling against her pale pink heels. The tight dress she had worn still was suffocating her, despite being thrown away all those months ago. His words bit into her, ripping open the scar so that the blood could flow again.

And then without warning, a different woman, who wasn’t her, walked up to him. Rey recognized her instantly and her heart sunk out of her, leaving a black hole for her to suck into.

Daine stood up, and hugged the woman, pulling back to kiss her briefly before they both sat down again. Rey’s eyes scanned over her flashy blonde hair; the light bounced off her sparkly jewelry. The shine made Rey’s eyes drop to where the woman’s hand gripped the water glass, raising it up to her perfectly tinted lips. A large kyber diamond curled snugly around her ring finger. _His grandmother’s ring._

Rey could cry. She swiped at her eyes, trying to wipe away any mascara that was streaming down her face. There was none, no tears had fallen. So why did she feel like this?

Because that should be her. If he hadn’t broken up with her a year ago, maybe that would be her. Sitting with crossed legs as her expensive shoe brushed up his shin. She would be stuck. Stuck on broken promises and a false love, but she wouldn’t know any better because that was the only love Rey ever had. Maybe she is still stuck on all those things. Why else would she have come here?

Rey felt like an idiot. She had been chasing after a man who never really loved her. Still thinking that he would call her one day to say he was sorry. That he wanted her back. That she was all he could ever want. Rey shuddered at the thought. How pathetic she was, going to the same place he broke her heart.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” A man’s deep voice broke through her raging thoughts.

She barely looked up. Finally, the bartender had come to take her order. _Safe to say the service still stuck with the old name._ But alcohol might taste better than whatever sour taste was lingering in her mouth right now.

“I’ll have a Tatooine Sunrise.” She told him harshly without lifting her eyes from where they glared at her twiddling hands on the bar top.

“I’ll have to see some I.D,” He told her back, a groan was being withheld, Rey could tell. _Just another shitty customer._

She sighed; did she really look that young still? Digging through her purse, she pulled out her wallet and subsequently, her ID. Without words, she handed it to the bartender.

“Ah, happy birthday,” He spoke with a little more umph in his voice, trying to be polite. He held out her ID, intending to hand it back to her.

Rey’s eyes finally looked up and she was met with the most captivating brown eyes she had ever seen. Along with that came a mane of black hair that stopped just above the man’s shoulders. She froze, speechless.

“Th-Thanks” Rey stuttered out, he still hadn’t looked away from her and Rey hoped he never would.

The man jabbed his arm out once more. “Here is you, uh, ID,” he told her.

Rey looked down at his hands. _Oh, his hands._ Still in his grasp, was her ID. It took her a few seconds to realize that she still needed to take it back.

“Thanks,” She repeated, mentally hitting herself for sounding like she could only respond one way.

“Tatooine Sunrise, you said?” He spoke with a gentle smile. Rey felt her own lips tug into a small grin as if he had coaxed it out of her. She nodded at his words. Her stomach tingled; like someone had released a whole swarm of butterflies into it.

“I’ll be right back,” he spoke, still making eye contact with her as he walked to the other end of the bar. Rey stared at the spot in front of her that the man had disappeared from.

She shook her head, trying to get the fog out of her head. Rey hadn’t felt like that…. Well ever. Rey looked around the rest of the bar, she felt like she had everyone’s eyes on her, that every other person there had just witness…. Whatever that was.

Nobody paid her any attention. Peeking a look at Daine, he was still clearly unaware of her presence, as he reached across his table, stroking the hand of…. Her.

Rey rolled her eyes at the gaudy gesture. Turning back around to look at the bottles lining the wall in front of her. She got lost in looking at all the vodka labels, to lost to notice that the man had returned.

“One Tatooine Sunrise for Rey,” His words snapped her out of her bottle-lined-wall trance. 

The butterfly feeling stopped and her blood chilled. “How did you—”

His gentle smile quickly dropped as he took in her reaction. “Oh, uh your “ he pointed to where her ID card still sat on the bar in front of her.

Rey exhaled slightly, giving him a breathy laugh. “Oh,” she replied with relief, picking up the card and slipping it back into her wallet. Taking out her debit card to pay.

“Sorry, I didn’t think that one through,” he told her, his eyes dropping as he wiped his hands on a cloth before taking her card and running it through the machine.

She shook her head at his gaff. “It’s alright, I just was scared I didn’t recognize you from somewhere else.” Rey, thought she would’ve remembered a face like his. It was unconventionally handsome, but beyond breathtaking in a way she couldn’t explain. His eyes, deep and dark, Rey felt like they were enveloping her, drawing her in to swallow her up.

He laughed slightly in response. It was a wonderful sound. And for the first time in a long time, Rey felt brave.

She tapped her fingers against the glass he had placed in front of her, admiring the pinky-orange color. “So, you know my name.”

He nodded in affirmation to her words, staring at her with that same small smile. “Do I get to know yours?”

He gave a breathy exhale of amusement at her obvious challenge. “It’s Ben,” he told her warmly.

“Ben,” she repeated. It suited him. Rey felt the pit in her stomach close up, like simply knowing his name was enough. The overhead lights seemed to pulse in tune with her heart, bouncing off the top of his head and giving him a luminous glow.

He smiled down at her for another few seconds. He then looked down the bar, deciding that any patrons who needed another drink could wait.

“So, uh are you waiting for someone else?” He asked her curiously. Rey deflated a bit, remembering her current predicament. No friends in the city. Shitty ex-boyfriend sitting across the room who was now engaged.

“Friends live out of town.” Rey told him, “They couldn’t get a train in until tomorrow.”

He nodded in response, seemingly noticing the way her demeanor had dropped at the mention of her being alone. “I’m sorry if I—”

Rey cut him off, “No it’s not you. It’s a valid question.”

“Well, you could not pay me to be twenty-four again.” He told her in a lighter tone, obviously trying to lighten her mood.

Rey looked at him a bit taken back, giving him a curious look.

“I’m only 27,” he responded to her unasked question, seemingly reading her mind.

Rey smiled once again at him, biting one of her lips in interest. “What’s wrong with being twenty-four?” She asked jokingly, a little taken back by his hatred of the age.

“Let’s just say years twenty-two through twenty-six weren’t the best for me.”

That piqued Rey’s interest. “What happened?.” She didn’t know why, but she had the sudden urge to know everything about the man named Ben.

Ben shifted uncomfortably, grabbing a whisky glass and wiping it with the cloth he had been holding.

“I’m sorry, that was,” Rey started, realizing that they had just met, and he wasn’t entitled to give her any personal details, no matter what the butterflies in her stomach were telling her.

“No, no it’s fine,” Ben spoke seriously. He shook his head, still looking down at the glass he was cleaning over and over again. “Let’s just say I was stuck in a life I couldn’t quite figure out how to get out of.” Rey leaned in to listen to his words closely. “Hadn’t spoken to my parents for a few years, and shacking up with some pretty unsavory individuals. Finally got up the courage to phone my mom after quitting an awful job. ” he smiled grimly at the memories.

Rey could tell he was leaving out most of the details. But she didn’t mind. “I’ve been feeling stuck for a while.” She told him. “I moved back here after college and after leaving all my friends, it’s hard to see them all and not feel like I’m missing out on something. They all have jobs and significant others, and mortgage payments. All of their lives are in Takodona .” Rey’s voice dropped at the mention of how she was the odd one out. They were all a lot closer to moving on to that next step in life than her.

“Why did you move back”? Ben asked her earnestly, he seemed to have the same quest of learning about her. Rey’s butterflies egged her on, despite the fact they had only just met.

“I got a job, and I had grown up here and it was something that was really close to me,” Rey tried to limit the details. She explicitly tried to leave out the whole ‘orphan’ thing, but her mind had been overrun with memories of Daine and her packing things up from the tiny apartment she had shared with Rose.

“And what’s the job?” Ben asked her cautiously, he too noticed that she was leaving our details of her life.

“I’m the director of a children’s center that works with Kids who…..” Rey’s breath hitched as she thought back to when she was one of those kids. “Kids who don’t have parents. A family.” She notched her head as she talked on, probably giving him way more than he asked for. “Well, I actually wasn’t the director when I took the job, more of a glorified intern. I know it’s not the most glamorous thing but…”

“No.” Ben shut her thoughts down, shaking his head. “ No, I think that’s incredible. It must take a lot of strength to see what all those kids go through.” Ben told her, his eyes never wavering from her face, telling Rey that he meant the words he was telling her.

His words ignited a warmth in Rey’s heart. Nobody beyond her immediate friends had ever taken an interest in the work that she was doing.

“Yeah it can be hard sometimes,” She wet her lips as she thought of how lonely she had been when she first got there. “But it is also extremely rewarding.” She smiled as she thought of the little boy who had come to the center today and told Rey about the new friend he had made at school that day. It had been his first friend. “Each kid is special and has a story worth telling.”

Ben smiled at her obvious infatuation with the job.

“I do miss my friends though. But sometimes they can be a bit much. And it isn’t their fault at all.” Rey sighed as she thought of Rose and Hux; Finn and Poe. They are living their lives, while I’m stuck in mine. My best friend Rose just moved in with her longtime boyfriend and I’m happy for them, it can just be a lot when all she does is talk about how happy and in love she is.” Rey didn’t know why she had just dumped all of that on Ben, but he hadn’t run yet, so perhaps she was doing something not half bad. She remembered what he had said about when he was twenty-four and how he had obviously left out some of the details. She glanced up at his face, the way the light bounced off every curve and dip. Rey wanted to know every single detail.

“Ah,” Ben sighed, running his hand through his hair. Rey followed the action. “I get that, one of my childhood best friend just moved in with his girlfriend and I hear about is what rug they are getting or which one of them is canceling their Netflix subscription.”

Rey smiled in return, finding it the whole ordeal trivial, but exactly what she had wanted to do a year ago. What she was prepared to do a year ago. “It sounds nice” she whispered blankly. “Ridiculous, But nice.”

Ben noticed how she stilled at the mention of all these things. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was all right, but Rey spoke before he could.

“You are supposed to go through all these things in life. Find the person who you love and loves you back. You move in together, maybe buy a house. Eventually, get married with kids and grow old together. All these wonderful things are supposed to happen in life. And I just…. I just don’t want them. I so badly want to want them. But I……” Her eyes had glassed over as she remembered how desperate she was all those months ago for all of that. And how Daine had taken all that away; tainted all those happy memories, in just under four seconds.

Rey had been going through her life avoiding the truth that she didn’t want to accept. Hiding behind a mascarade smile, not wanting to admit that she was stuck on broken promises and how a year ago someone said they had loved her. She felt like a stranger stuck in another person’s body. Hating Daine but still stuck in the same place he had left her. Still clinging to the fake love, he had given her.

Rey suddenly felt the heat on her back. The incessive nagging that Daine always had imposed on her. Begging to be at his beck and call. She hated it. The string that kept her bound and trapped. Turning slightly in her chair, Rey’s eyes landed on the two-person table that was taken up by Daine, the woman, and the enormous ring.

Ben followed her actions, looking from her to across the dining area, trying to see what she was looking at. “What’s wrong?” he asked with concern.

Rey looked back at him for a moment, noticing that he was now leaning with his arms crossed on top of the bar. It closed a lot of the distance between them and Rey could practically feel the heat radiating off his rather large frame. His gaze was still locked on the tables, looking for whatever she found a miss.

She sighed as she kept her focus on Daine and the woman who was now wearing _the_ engagement ring. Rey glanced back at Ben who was still looking in their direction. She hesitated, not wanting to reveal how pathetic she really was to the first man she had taken an interest in the past year.

But as she connected the dots on the freckles that were speckled across his face and remembered how good Ben looking at her made Rey feel; she wanted him to know. She for the first time wanted to tell him everything and for him to know every little stupid thing about her. She wanted to hear every detail about him. So, she relented and stepped off that cliff. “You see that couple over there? The man with the blonde woman?” Rey dipped her head in their direction.

Ben nodded silently, still trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

“That is my ex-boyfriend. I moved here yes for the job, but also because he was moving here. And that is his new fiancé.” Rey spit out all the necessary information. “She was hired as his assistant, maybe, oh I don’t know, sixteen months ago. Doubt she still is.”

Rey gave a breathy laugh, finally realizing how completely ridiculous the whole situation had become. “Anyway, he broke up with me a year ago today. I thought he was going to propose, that I would be wearing that ring. “

Ben huffed as she finished, continuing to analyze the couple sitting half a room away from them. He drew in a breath, making Rey’s eyes follow the movement down his neck. “Let me get this straight, you were dating him?” Ben gestured at the oblivious couple across the room.

“Mmhmm” Rey confirmed, finally bringing the drink he had brought her up to her lips. She welcomed the burning sensation as it slid down her throat, hoping it would pat down the anxieties that would surely be quickly approaching.

“You guys were together since college” Ben said plainly.

“Yep” Rey confirmed, popping the ‘p’ on her answer.

“and not only after all that time, but on your _Birthday_ of all days, he decides to break up with you.” He deadpanned the last sentence, clearly annoyed by Daine’s actions despite never even meeting him. “To go off and screw his secretary.”

Rey gave a solemn laugh. Hearing someone else describe it helped show her how pathetic it really was. “He told me that he met someone.” She stated, her mind remembering how nonchalantly he had said it. Rey’s eyes darkened with sadness; the memory still stung her heart.

“I’m so sorry,” Ben whispered carefully, noticing her shift in demeanor. His words made Rey perk up a bit. The first apology for the whole situation. And Ben hadn’t even been the culprit.

“And that’s not even the worse part,” Rey said matter-of-factly, peering at him over her drink with a gleemish smile on her face, trying to get rid of the painful prick in the back of her mind that replayed that night over and over.

Ben finally turned his head to look at her, with his arms still leaning over the bar, they were a mere inches away. His eyes were glassed with anticipation, hanging and waiting for what she would say next.

“He did it at this very. Same. Restaurant.” She told him as her smiled widened.

Ben closed his eyes and gave her an exasperated laugh.

“Well, not the same restaurant as I’m sure you know but the place before…” she rambled on, words pouring out between giggles as she watched him shake his head in disbelief. For the first time, Rey was talking about this and not on the verge of tears. _Fuck_ she was laughing at herself. And _he_ made it so much better.

Ben opened his eyes, standing up straight and taking his arms off the bar as he continued to laugh at her laughs. “You have really shitty taste in men.” He told her jokingly. The bartender had said it as a throwaway line, but Rey could see the obvious curiosity behind his eyes.

“You tell me?” she said leaning harder on her elbows, closer to where he stood on the other side of the bar. “ _Do_ I have shitty taste in men?”

Ben stared at her a little taken back. She was flirting. And he knew it. The heat in the air penetrated Rey’s body, coursing through her veins, bringing her back to life after all this time. He gave her a breathy, nervous laugh, obviously trying to think of something to say. “Probably,” He muttered quietly, the grin never wavering.

At that particular moment, another patron gave an unsatisfied call to Ben from the opposite end of the bar top. The tension in the air shattered like someone had dropped a glass on the floor.

“Shit, sorry.” Ben quickly realized that he in fact hadn’t been doing his job. “Don’t leave, I’ll be right back.”

She watched as Ben rushed away to help the unhappy customer. Her butterflies danced flippantly as she watched him rush away. His dark hair and wide shoulders waving her goodbye but assuring her that they would be back. Rey replayed their conversation in her head, remembering what he had said about when he was twenty-four and bookmarking that for later. What about his parents? What about the job? The questions poured out of her mind. She wanted to hear every minute of that terrible time in his life. Everything before and everything after that placed him in front of her tonight. She wanted to know it all and she wanted to love

it.

Rey reached down for her drink, finishing off the rest of it. Setting the glass down, the ice rattled inside from the impact with the bar top. She stared at the frozen cube with a smile, relishing in the happiness she felt and the buzz of the alcohol singing through her veins.

Her dizzying thoughts were then silenced by the vibration of her cell phone as it signaled her from her coat pocket. Reaching around her chair, and grabbing at her coat, Rey pulled out her phone to see what the alert was.

_Hope you enjoyed your drink. See you tomorrow :)_ _\- Rose._

Rey glanced at the clock on her phone, noting that it was getting late and she did have _some_ work to get done at home before leaving to go pick up Rose, Hux, Finn, and Poe.

Her phone vibrated for a second time. _P.S if you take some hot guy home tonight, I am fully prepared to shove the boys into an uber if ya’ll want to ‘sleep in’_

Rey rolled her eyes at the trio of winky faces that succeeded the suggestive text. She shot back and simple ‘see you tomorrow’ before slipping her phone back into her pocket.

By the time she looked back up, Ben was already heading back toward her. He was holding another glass, of what looked like water. A smile perked up on Rey’s lips at the sight, her heart audibly beating faster.

“I thought, since you do have to pick up your friends tomorrow,” He told her, sliding the glass over to her.

Rey pressed her lips together in a smile at his thoughtfulness and uncanny ability to read her thoughts. “thanks,” she whispered before taking a drink.

“I’m sorry if I’m taking you away from your job,” Rey told him, gesturing to the other patrons sitting around the bar.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. This is my parent's place; I just help out when the second bartender can’t make a shift.” He waved his hand dismissively.

“So, you don’t actually work here.” Rey asked him.

“No,” Ben started. “I have a day job at a law firm, but I still get paid for the nights I work here.

“Oh wow, a lawyer!” Rey exclaimed sarcastically, cocking her brow teasingly. “That sounds very professional.”

Ben rolled his eyes, “It’s a non-profit, so get that idea out of your head that I spend my days in stuffy suits and with corporate bigwigs.”

She laughed, “I wasn’t thinking that at all.” Reaching forward she brought the water glass up to her lips to take another drink.

“Mmhmm, Sure” Ben told her, eyeing her in some type a way Rey hoped would go on later than tonight. “That’s an ugly ring but the way.”

_What?_ Rey looked down at her hands flipping them over to where she had a ring on her left middle finger. Two large, warm hands cover her own, pressing them into the bar top. An electric pulse flowed between them. Rey wondered if Ben felt it too.

Meeting his eyes, Rey gave Ben a curious look. “I meant you Ex’s ring.” He assured her, retracting his hands. The cold air wrapped around Rey’s skin, and her hands itched for him again.

“Oh, yeah,” Rey spoke sheepishly, turning slightly to look at where Daine sat. The enormous square-shaped ring looked far gaudier than she had remembered. The old-fashioned shade of yellow wasn’t the most flattering hue. She shook her head, trying to chase the warmth that had flowed through them.

“All in all, I think that you should be thanking him.” Ben spoke briefly, “Or maybe I should be,” he said after a pause, much quieter, Rey wasn’t sure that she even heard the last part. Sitting there across from him, she thought that perhaps she agreed with him.

“It’s been hard.” Rey admitted. “I haven’t really felt myself for a while.” She bit her lip at the admission, looking up at him and waiting for his reaction.

“Well, you seem to have been doing well enough for yourself.” Ben told her. “That job you love, friends who are coming to see you. It seems to me that you have had quite the year. Don’t let one piece of shit guy take away from that.”

“I think I always thought it was my fault. That I hadn’t been good enough, that I hadn’t done enough to make him stay.” Rey stared into the space ahead of her, peeling back the layers of her memories, remembering how she felt the nights she had cried. Or the nights she didn’t, trying to rationalize why Daine had done it. “Like tonight, I had the thought that if I would come back here perhaps he would be waiting for me.” Rey hated what she had admitted to. She now saw that she had been living for someone who didn’t care about her anymore.

“Personally, abet, coming from someone you just met, but who has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you,” he paused, taking what looked like a nervous breath before leaning his arms on the bar so that they were face to face. “I think you dodged a bullet getting a person like that out of your life.”

Rey breathed out at his own admission. _Perhaps someone had been waiting for her tonight._ She smiled at him, their faces only inches away. If she wanted to, and oh did Rey want to, she could lean forward and kiss him.

“Thank you,” She whispered back to him. “you have no idea how much I needed this tonight.”

He chuckled slightly at her, his exhale gently hitting her face. His eyes flickered downward toward her lips. “Well, I might have a pretty stupid idea, and you might be mad, but maybe with the luck I’ve been having tonight, I might just get away with it.”

Rey gave him a minor look of confusion but that did nothing to deter his hand gently pushing her empty drink glass off his end of the bar top.

Leaning forward to follow his action, Rey had just enough time to see the glass crash to the floor and break into about a million pieces, accompanied by an ear-piercing shatter.

“What are yo—”

Before Rey had the time to get all the words out Ben leaned forward and closed the distance between them, delicately placing his lips over hers. Whatever words she had been saying completely melted away. All she was focused on was Ben’s warm lips on her, breathing life back into her lungs. His hand came up to her cheek and Rey automatically placed hers on top of it, savoring the return of the gentle spark that bounced between their skin. The gentle pressure that his fingers had digging into her made the butterflies downright combust. It was like her mind sung, telling her that this was so right. She smiled into the kiss, her action meeting his own.

After a few seconds, Ben pulled back slightly, and Rey was pulled back into reality. She remembered that she was in the place where she had had her heart shattered just one year ago, and now there were about a million shards of glass on the floor next to Ben’s feet.

She could hear the stark silence that surrounded them, as well as, feel just about every pair of eyes staring in their direction. Blush raised to her cheeks as she smiled bigger under Ben’s gaze. He gave her a breathy laugh of relief, his thumb caressing the back of her hand that still was clasped with his.

Darting his eyes away for just a second, Ben looked at something over Rey’s shoulder. He returned to her stare with a cock of his head. “What do you think your Ex thought of that?” He asked her curiously.

She gave him a full-hearted laugh, pressing her feet into the rungs of her stool to push herself closer to him. Placing her hand on his shoulder and then moving it into his hair, she shook her head slightly. “I don’t really care,”

With that, Rey pulled him back down into another kiss, savoring the taste of him. She ran her fingers through his black hair as he worked his lips back against hers. Ben laughed slightly into the kiss.

They stayed like that for more than a few seconds, finally parting when someone down the bar yelled ‘get a room’.

When they both finally pulled back they stared at each other for a moment before breaking into a bout of full-hearted laughter. “I’m sorry,” Ben apologized to her, “I don’t usually do that.”

“Oh, you don’t kiss all the people who sit at your bar?” She teased him. Tears of laughter threatened to fall from her eyes. Rey pressed her finger into her eyelid, trying to avoid her mascara from running down her face.

Ben looked at her with a look of wonder. “No, only with the people I really like.” He told her with a grin.

She shook her head at him. Her mind was still buzzing, but maybe it was always supposed to feel like that. Wild and free. “So, maybe this hasn’t been the worst birthday.”

“Well, I think you have terrible birthdays covered, so let’s try and avoid those in the years to come.” He told her. Her heart beat faster at the prospect that he just put forward. _In the years to come._

“Yeah I think you are right,” Rey smiled at him.

Ben paused, clearing his throat and looking around him nervously, before looking down at his twiddling thumbs. “So, uh—” He looked up at her, “Rey, I know your friends are coming into town this weekend, but would you, maybe, want to see each other when I’m not working?”

“What you don’t like making out in a public setting with a giant slab between us?” Rey joked, grinning at how anxious he was, despite the fact she had practically shoved her tongue down his throat a minute ago.

“No, it’s great, but I was hoping maybe somewhere your Ex isn’t staring daggers at me?” Ben told her with a quick flick of his eyes to where Rey knew Daine was sitting behind her.

“I would love to.” She bit her lip, smiling at him. Reaching forward she placed a hand on his.

“Good,” He told her. Reaching down below the bar, he produced a pen and a drink napkin. Rey followed his actions as he proceeded to write his name and number down.

She graciously grabbed the napkin as he slid it across the table. Once she took it, Ben looked around sheepishly. “I should probably get back to actually doing my job before my dad fires me.”

Rey nodded, glancing at the clock on the wall behind him. “I should probably be getting home too,” she told him, dipping her head in the direction of the time. “But thank you for,” she paused, running her eyes over his face.

Rey became stuck on his dark eyes, stuck on the freckles painted across his face. Stuck on his deep voice and the way he was currently looking at her.

“Thank you for everything that happened tonight.”

Leaning across the bar one last time, Rey gave Ben a brief peck on the cheek. She pulled back and hopped off the barstool to pull on her jacket.

“You’ll be getting home alright?” Ben asked her cautiously,

Rey smiled at him, nodding at his words. “I’ll be okay.” He nodded back, “Happy Birthday, Rey.

“I’m sorry about the glass” she spoke sheepishly

He shook his head with a knowing smile. “Don’t be.”

She smiled one last time at him, shaking her head at his words before turning around and beginning to walk toward the exit. Her mind stayed on his smile, and not the man currently sitting at a table with an unlucky fiancé.

Rey threw one last look back at the bar and met Ben’s eyes that were still staring at her. He gave her a wave that she returned with a hopeful mind.

Once Rey got outside, the air had cooled immensely, and she savored the winter wind that whipped around her. Looking up, She smiled at the few delicate snowflakes that had begun falling from the sky. With a warm heart, Rey pulled the napkin he had given her out from her pocket.

_Ben Solo._

Rose would sure be getting her money back after this.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! In this time of uncertainty, I think that we all could use some unrealistic fluffy romance to fill our mindscapes. Writing this story has been a blast so I hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to comment and again, thanks for reading! 
> 
> xo, reylo 4ever


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